The phrase `messaging environment` will be used herein to refer to computer networks and their primary function--the transfer of messages such as files, documents and other information from one apparatus or application to another. Much of the software in use in a computer network is devoted to the task of such message transfer, such as electronic mail (e-mail) services, for example. Electronic mail has proven to be one of the easiest and most popular ways to transfer information from one device to another, and from one user to another. Other products, such as group productivity software, are enjoying increasing sales because of their ability to provide even more functionality in the transfer of information among users of a network than provided by a basic e-mail system.
Where messaging environments lack is in their ability to exchange messages with devices not coupled to the network. If an individual at a network-attached device wants to transmit or receive a message from another individual at a remote location who lacks access to a network-attached device, the messaging environment is of little help. For individuals that travel frequently, this is an all too common situation. One way to transfer a message to such a remote location is through the use of a facsimile processor. These apparatus have become practically indispensable as a mechanism for transmitting documents over a long distance. Through the use of a facsimile circuit board and facsimile software, facsimile machines can be coupled to a network and be accessed by users of the messaging system. From their computer, users can transmit a message via the facsimile processor to a remote location, and the facsimile processor can receive a message from a remote facsimile processor and store the message for future retrieval by the user. While convenient, these capabilities essentially automate existing capabilities, such as printing a document and manually feeding it into a stand-alone facsimile processor.
Thus, while a facsimile server can reduce time in sending and receiving documents, they have little or only rudimentary abilities in another very important aspect of messaging environments, that of routing documents within the messaging environment itself. U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,743 to Hochman et al. discloses a method for directing an incoming facsimile message to a particular directory on a network server depending on the recipient of the message. The '743 patent discloses modifying the TSI field in the communications header of a sending facsimile message to identify the recipient of the message. The receiving facsimile processor extracts the user identifier from the TSI field, and the accompanying facsimile message is stored in a location on a network server which is designated for the user associated with the identifier. The intended user can then run a program which will display the message.
Given the inherent advantages of facsimile processors for certain types of information transfer, and particularly the ability of one facsimile processor to communicate messages to a remote facsimile processor, integration of a facsimile processor into a messaging environment could provide message routing capabilities not currently feasible. For example, it would be beneficial if a user of a sending facsimile processor could identify, at the time of message transmission, not only the recipient of the message, but the precise location in the messaging environment to which the message should be routed. For example, the user may want the message to be routed to a particular printer, or to an electronic mailbox, or to a local storage area location on a server. It would also be highly beneficial if a messaging environment could be controlled by a user operating a facsimile processor at a remote location. For example, a user may want all of their unopened e-mail messages for the day transferred from the messaging environment to the remote facsimile processor. As directed by the remote facsimile machine, the messaging environment could obtain the e-mail messages for that particular user, and communicate them via a facsimile processor coupled to the messaging environment to the remote facsimile processor.
It is apparent that a method and system which provides the ability to control the routing and transmission of messages in a messaging environment from a remote facsimile processor would be highly desirable.